On Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, Milwaukee’s Sherman Park became a flashpoint of angst and racial tensions that had been simmering throughout the summer. That afternoon, a black police officer shot and killed 23-year-old Sylville Smith, a black man who was running from the police while carrying a handgun.

It had already been a violent weekend in Milwaukee, with nine shootings, five of them homicides; two of the crime scenes were near the site of Smith’s death. Earlier that month, a double homicide — with one man shot and another fatally stabbed — occurred in the Sherman Park area.

Word of the officer-involved shooting spread quickly on social media, and, over the next several hours, people began streaming into Sherman Park. By nightfall, what started as a protest erupted into chaos. Angry young men picked up rocks and bricks and hurled them toward the police. People broke into businesses, looted merchandise and started fires.

Sounds of gunfire, explosions, shouting and sirens filled the neighborhood. Frightened reporters fled. Firefighters watched helplessly from a distance, unable to approach the violent scene.

As a patrol car, a gas station, and several other businesses went up in flames, the smoke was visible from our church, Parklawn Assembly of God, located just three blocks from Sherman Park.

When Sunday morning dawned, the charred neighborhood resembled a war zone. The fires were dying, but the embers of anger and frustration still burned.

The Surge

The situation was overwhelming. A palpable canopy of hopelessness hung over the city. But in that moment, I sensed God speaking. We were in that place at that time for a reason: to take the love of Jesus to our community and into the world. Obedience couldn’t wait. I could not hold off until the heat died down. I had to lead, follow or get out of the way.

I had a few hours before service to mobilize our congregation. Through social media, I spread the word: “Parklawn, we’re having service. We’re going to walk to the riot area and start cleaning up.”

That Sunday morning we marched into the burned-out neighborhood, shoulder to shoulder, black and white. Yes, we were afraid. God didn’t take away our fear, but He gave us grace, and we did it scared.

In January 2016, I stood before our congregation and proclaimed 2016 as our Year of the Surge. A surge is a sudden increase in power or movement, a wavelike force. I believe that was a prophetic picture of what God would do in our church and city.

We expected an influx of people coming to the altar, throwing up their hands, falling on their knees, giving their lives to Jesus and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That’s the kind of surge we anticipated. We didn’t know the surge was a crowd of people who had never stepped foot in a church, people living under the radar of employment, education and productive participation in society.

The surge came into our church and brought the church outside the four walls. It swept us from our seats, into the streets. It took us to a place called Sherman Park, a place where we met people in need of God’s grace. They were young men with baseball caps, gold chains and silver teeth. They were young ladies who looked like boys. They were people with piercings and tattoos.

The surge taught me some things about community renewal and loving my city the way Jesus loves. I want to share eight lessons I learned that will help bring renewal to communities in chaos. I realize most congregations will never experience our unique set of circumstances. Yet these lessons are applicable to any church in any setting, from the inner cities and suburbs to the small towns and remote rural places.

Across the country and around the world, hurting, broken people desperately need a remedy that only Jesus can provide.

1. Step into the Chaos

No pastor wants to step into a chaotic situation. Nevertheless, there is a demand for leadership in times of crisis. When unrest occurs, people are looking to us, saying, “What are you going to do, pastor?”

The community was demanding change. The members of my congregation were demanding change. Our community leaders and elected officials did not know what to do. People were looking to the spiritual community. Because it was so close to our church, they were looking to me.

Naturally, I called for an end to the violence. But if I wanted people to listen, I knew I had to offer more than lectures or sermons. I had to lead the church out of the building and into the chaos. We’re not the Church because we come to church; we become the Church as we go.

2. Show up, Imperfections and All

As a church leader, you will face complex and difficult situations in your community. You won’t have an easy solution for every problem or an answer to every question. Show up anyway. Be present, even in your imperfections.

We encountered an angry, frustrated, disenfranchised, disconnected group of young people who were spiritually dead, who had no sense of loyalty or allegiance to authority or government. Yes, they were imperfect. But so were we. They quickly pointed out our imperfections. They asked, “Why are you here?”

The place was abuzz with reporters and media helicopters. Everyone from CNN and The New York Times to our local news was there.

These young people asked, “Where have you been? Are you here because the cameras are on? We drive by your church on Sundays. We see you, dressed up and looking nice. But will you be back here? Will you come back tomorrow?”

We weren’t the only church on the scene. We walked in as a coalition of red, yellow, black, white and brown pastors and congregants. Most of the white people with us had never been in that community before. Even as a black pastor who lives there, I was afraid, so I can only imagine how they felt.

One of the angry young black men said, “I see all you white people here. I’ll believe in your Jesus if you all come back tomorrow with 200 white people.”

God didn’t bury you in your community; He planted you there for His glory.

And we did. We came back the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that. We kept showing up and showing them our scars.

We must become permanent, even in our imperfections, even with our segregation, our denominationalism and all our religious flaws. None of us has it all together. People just want us to be real — and consistently present.

3. Love, Listen and Learn

We can’t simply arrive on the scene and tell people what we think they need. We must go in with love and a willingness to listen.

To build a better community, we must first build relationships. Before we can lead for the good of the city, we must listen and learn to live for the good of the city.

I was born and raised in Milwaukee. I’ve lived here for 57 years, serving as pastor of Parklawn for 25 years. I thought I had a real sense of love and compassion for my city. However, God took me to a deeper level of concern and involvement through this crisis.

The issues facing the urban communities in America are complex and challenging: family breakdown, drug addiction, a lack of education and teaching resources, crime and violence, poverty and economic loss. There is a profound sense of hopelessness. If the Church doesn’t bring hope and light and life into those situations, who will?

Don’t wait until a crisis happens to get to know the people in your neighborhood. But if you are in a place of crisis, don’t hesitate to take the love of Jesus into the streets and parks and neighborhoods (safely and wisely, of course).

Show up with no agenda other than to love, listen and learn. Then serve in a way the people ask you to serve. Lead in a way that is consistent with Scripture, honors God and points to Jesus.

Return the next day, and repeat. Never stop loving, listening and learning.

4. Speak Life

In a world of suffering and sorrow, God is raising up leaders to speak with relevance, connect the dots between human experience and eternal reality, and offer people a sense of meaning, purpose and hope. The Word of God brings life. If we’re to reach African-Americans, if we’re to reach their cities and neighborhoods, we must speak life to them at their point of need.

In Acts 17, Paul encountered a riot in Thessalonica. God used the situation and Paul’s faithful testimony to spread the truth of the gospel and make disciples, not only in Thessalonica, but also in Berea and Athens.

Anywhere there is an atmosphere of chaos — whether it’s Milwaukee, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico or little Sutherland Springs, Texas — we can have an Acts 17 moment again. Wherever you are ministering, there are people who need to hear the message of Christ. Whether you are in a chaotic place like Thessalonica, a receptive place like Berea, or a skeptical place like Athens, speak truth and life to anyone who will listen.

5. Put down Roots

In Jeremiah 29, God calls the Israelites to put down roots in the land of their captivity — to build houses, plant gardens, marry, and have children and grandchildren. Though Babylon wasn’t their ideal zip code, God said to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” and “pray to the Lord for it” (verse 7).

God didn’t bury you in your community; He planted you there for His glory. Put down roots, and seek the peace of the city. There’s a term in urban America: white flight. This describes what happened in the past when people of color moved into certain neighborhoods, and the white people, and often the churches, fled.

Put down roots where God places you, even when it’s hard, even when the neighbors are different from you, even when the grass seems greener elsewhere. The purpose in life is not to live free from pain, suffering, chaos and strife. The purpose is to bring glory to God.

The riot changed the way we approach ministry. We recently launched what we call 40 Days of Community. We combined our two services into one, and at the end of the service, we leave the building and go into the neighborhood, passing out bottled water, knocking on doors and praying for people. The first Sunday, I led four people to Christ — in the streets, not from the pulpit.

We won’t transform America’s cities and neighborhoods overnight. But we can trust God to change hearts and lives as we labor faithfully. Sometimes it seems the Church has a short memory. When a crisis occurs, we send in money, resources and our best people to help. But once the bleeding stops, we move on to the next place.

There are no quick fixes. We need churches that will remain and invest in the lives of the people, block by block, generation after generation.

6. Be Consistent

We realized the surge would not come through the door and down the aisle unless we provided a path. We must leave the door open and the light on.

Shortly after the riot, we hosted a community listening session. We opened the doors of our church on a Saturday, and 600 people came in. We served food and then brought them into our sanctuary, where we talked and listened. It brought a real sense of peace. The politicians were there, saying, “Why didn’t we think of this?”

We want to continue to show that same level of love and involvement. Every Saturday since the riot, we have returned to the spot where the riot occurred. Jesus said that when an impure spirit goes out of a person, it may come back with seven other spirits, making the final condition worse than the first (Matthew 12:43-45). We won’t let that happen — not on our watch. We’re filling the void with the life, light and love of Jesus Christ.

We’ve realized we were not as effective as we thought we were. When you start asking the community, they’ll let you know. We were good at having church and Sunday School for Christians. But we weren’t good at engaging our community. When we started listening and learning, we could finally lead.

We realigned our church budget, staff and focus. My youth pastor is now also leading community engagement. We realigned our service times, turning our Wednesday night Bible study into a community engagement night. We’re discussing culturally relevant topics like financial management, parenting and sex trafficking — shining a biblical light on the issues people are struggling with in their daily lives. We turned the sanctuary, gymnasium and surrounding rooms into a youth community center on Wednesdays.

7. Invest in Personal Growth

As leaders, finding time to care for ourselves is often difficult.

At the beginning of that Year of the Surge, we decided as a church to invest in personal growth. I committed to read an average of one book weekly, listen to one or two podcasts daily, and submit accountability summaries to my leadership team. I asked my elder board and pastors to do the same, and they all agreed. This preparation was crucial.

We must not neglect our own spiritual development. As we fill our buckets, we will have fresh water to draw and pour into the lives of those God calls us to lead.

8. Follow God’s Lead

You don’t need a crisis to reveal the ministry needs in your community. Find out where God is opening doors of opportunity, and join Him there. In the calm stillness and in the turbulent chaos, He’s already moving behind the scenes to accomplish His purpose.

Seek the Spirit’s guidance, and follow where He leads. He might just direct you to a place you least expect — a place like Sherman Park.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2018 edition of Influence magazine.

See also

Pentecostals, Race, Justice and Reconciliation (Influence podcast with Walter Harvey)